Sunday, June 08, 2008
MARRIED FOREVER?
Does it mean that our marriage in October will be invalidated?
The answer is that no one knows.
And there are more complex issues that are also unknown. It is conceivable that straight marriage would, by virtue of the original Supreme Court decision's wording, be outlawed as well!
Wouldn't that stir up a hornet's nest? Don't you think for one minute that it won't come up in the battle to overturn the initiative.
Here are some questions and answers and unknowns.
Calif. Battle Over Gay Marriage Raises Novel Legal Questions
So what does this mean for us?
Should we, like our friends at dinner last night, wait until we know whether the ammendment will pass or not?
Absolutely not!
It is even more imperative that we get married in this time period before the initiative is considered.
The more same sex couples that are married before November, the more complicated the post election problems will be if the initiative passes.
The more complicated the 'simple' amendment creates the higher the likelihood that it will not pass and, as happened in Massachusetts, we get more time for more people to marry and for doubters to discover that the world has not come to an end.
In addition, we should marry because the public needs to see stories about gay marriage. They need pictures of the people that are affected by this new situation. The matter must be humanized.
I don't mean just at the level of the press.
I mean that people on our street and in our circle should see that it is important to us. That we are gay and want to be married.
You would be amazed, as we are, at the reaction when we announce that we are going to get married. People whoop and shout and get excited.
We are affecting the community. These people will vote.
You know, the other thing is, that in the past, the Republicans have benefited from this as a wedge issue. People were motivated to go to the polls to vote against 'the gays' and also vote Republican.
This time, in California, it may work the other way. People are going to come out to vote for Obama and will vote for us. People who vote for us will vote for Obama.
It will all work together.
I do not want to be too optimistic about this.
I am fully prepared for the initiative to pass.
If it does, we will start, on the next day, to amend the state constitution to delete this prohibition and we will go to the courts to keep our married status.
It is a big deal.
They figure as many as 50,000 couples will marry. 100,000 people. I bet it will be more.
There are a lot of queers in California. You have no idea!
If we affect ten people apiece then our 100,000 becomes a million. If we affect the thinking of 100, then it is ten million people.
Viral politics. That is the new age we are in. It is how Obama got nominated. We are on our way!
Labels: gay marriage, gay rights
